First of all this theory that I saw relates to fan fiction and shonen-ai so as usual, if you can not stand that kind of stuff then don’t read anymore.

Ok…to start the story from the beginning. As I said before, I don’t really like Fuji, yet I do quite like reading Shiraishi/Fuji fan fictions. Well, I would prefer to read Shiraishi/OC pairings but his fan fictions are not that easy to find so I got to a stage of “I don’t care what pairing is in it as long as the story is not that badly written and contains Shiraishi”. Well…my favourite pairing is Watanabe/Shiraishi but that is like virtually impossible to find, likewise Shiraishi/Kenya stories are quite hard to find as well. But anyway, I was reading fan fiction on a Chinese community when I suddenly saw this very interesting article: it discusses the idea that Shiraishi and Fuji actually knew each other when they were little. The article is very interesting although it is not really reliable due to two reasons.

1= I simply don’t think that Konomi-sensei intends such a deep thing and hide it this way. Konomi-sensei is not exactly the most…reliable author. Example- upon finding out that Ishida Gin (Shitenhouji) is the brother of Ishida Tetsu (Fudomine) a couple of readers actually went to re-read 20.5 and discovered that this was not mentioned in 20.5! (in 20.5 he only had a sister). The author then said the following: “Oh, feel free to add that he has a brother in 20.5 yourself.” So I mean, can one honestly say that Konomi-sensei planned all these hidden messages? I am sorry but I think not.

2= the translation used by the writer does not seem very reliable. It does not match up with most of the translation I have seen (my own version of the manga, the version I download, the ova translation etc etc.) For example, in volume 29, when Shiraishi first come out, I think most versions have him saying: “Tezuka-kun looks much more stronger this year”, whereas her version is “Tezuka-kun, I am much more stronger this year.”

However, she does have some very interesting points in regard to some aspects and it also sort of makes sense. As I said, I found this article highly interesting and it actually did make me think although I still don’t believe in her theory, but I thought I would share some of the points in her article that I really like as well as some of my own view in regard to what her article had made me think. For those who can read Chinese this is the link to it: http://post.baidu.com/f?kz=164905390/

1) In genius 316, Shiraishi tells Fuji to use his triple counters and the point she raised is very interesting. Shiraishi is not a data collector like Inui/Yanagi/Mizuki and even Koharu- so we can presume that he knows about the triple counters either because Fuji is famous for it, or because he has watched tapes (most schools do this), or because he heard it from Koharu. But this not fully make sense because by this time Fuji already had his fourth counter developed. Since it happened in the second round it should be wide knowledge now. If Shiraishi obtained his knowledge from Koharu then surely Koharu would know about the fourth counter and told him about it, and if he know about the triple counters from tapes then he must have seen this because he would surely watch Fuji’s most recent game (Fuji did not play in the quarter final so his last game was in the second round, which was when he finished his fourth counter).

So this is a very interesting question, why does Shiraishi says triple counters and omits the last counter? I know that everyone still calls it triple counters despite the fourth one but why does Shiraishi not says “use all of your counters?” it is also very important to realise that Shiraishi just used his special smash (which remain unnamed, I’m waiting for a very nice name from 40.5), where the ball spins in a circle- something that the fourth counter can attack. Shiriashi will surely mentions the fourth triple counter if he knows about it, but yet he only mentions the three counter even though he just did something that will work against the fourth counter.

I can not help but to admit that the author of this article has a very good point by her suggestion that Shiraishi knows about the triple counters due to memories of their child hood, and that he fails to mention the fourth counter because he does not know about it. He knows the triple counters because he knows it when they were children together, and so does not know about the fourth counter because Fuji only recently developed it. So his knowledge is from a past quite some time ago.

2) In genius 316- Shiriaishi’s famous monologue. “Fuji, I am sorry…” as she pointed out- why should he apologise? It is natural that you must do what ever you can in order to win, especially if it is ok. And in his case his perfect tennis is something that is perfectly honourable, so his apology is very strange. Is it because his sense of ethic is unusually strong? But this does not make sense as he has done nothing that is wrong in anyway, you can not possible argue that he did anything wrong or even rude. So why is Shiraishi apologising for dominating the game and about to win? He is a very smart kid so he will know that his perfect tennis is perfectly alright, and that he has done nothing wrong. So why should he apologise? Unless there really is something in the past that makes him feel bad for winning and dominating the game?

3) Continuing from the same scene: “To tell the truth/to be honest, there is nothing in the world that is more boring then perfect tennis.” As she described, this sounds like a complaint you would voice out to an old friend. It is certainly something that you would not tell just anyone. The question then become this…by this time has Shiraishi broke free from addressing Fuji, and is now thinking to himself? For me, I thought that he is speaking to himself at this point, but this still does not make sense either way.

Alright, I’ll start with the presumption that lady had, that he is still addressing Fuji. Why would Shiraishi be telling Fuji this if Fuji is just his first time opponent? Unless he says this in anger- because he knows that Fuji is the opposite for him- enjoyment first and not really trying. So it is kind of a “Can you actually understand what I have to go through for the sake of my team?” but this does not make sense. Because if he says this in anger, then why would he add an apology at the beginning?

So let us presume that he has broke up from his address to Fuji, and is now thinking to himself (what I believe). This still does not make sense. If he is just thinking to himself then why would he add that bit in the front? The “To be honest…” Wouldn’t he just jump straight to the point and says “This perfect tennis is the most boring thing in the world.” Why add the “To tell the truth” as if he is trying to convince someone that this really is boring? One would not want to convince oneself about something negative. So it does not make sense if Shiraishi is trying to tell himself that what he does is the most boring thing in the world, he should be trying to tell himself that perfect tennis is not that bad.

In conclusion, I still don’t really think there is any kind of that stuff but that lady does raised some very good points and now I have the following question.
1) Why did Shiraishi omits to mention the fourth counter?
2) Why does Shiraishi felt that he should apologise to Fuji for using his perfect tennis?
3) Who is he addressing when he thought of how boring his perfect tennis is? If to himself, then why try to convince himself of something negative as well as something that he knows is true. If to Fuji…why would he tell Fuji this?